Grant Number:	5U19CA291404-02 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Simon, Melissa
Organization:	Northwestern University At Chicago
Project Title:	Advancing Cancer Control Engaged Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (Accert Pn)
Fiscal Year:	2025

Chicago is home to multiple populations experiencing low access to care and worsening cancer health outcomes. We propose to establish the Advancing Cancer Control Engaged Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (ACCERT PN) Center to develop community-engaged interventions, measures and methods for process and outcomes assessment, and researcher and community partner capacity and engagement centered around the theme of innovative multilevel patient navigation (PN) approaches and implementation science within learning health systems to address multifaceted barriers to cancer care, including social risks and contextual factors. With the goal of mitigating worsening cancer health outcomes in patient populations experiencing barriers to accessing care in Northwestern’s catchment area communities, the ACCERT PN Center’s research program will commence in the first year with the launch of a five-year Signature Research Project and two rapid and responsive, thematically linked Community Responsive Projects. The Signature Research Project will leverage innovations in systems engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop and test two multilevel PN approaches via a Hybrid Type 2 randomized effectiveness-implementation trial. Community Responsive Project 1 will develop communication strategies and training resources for navigators and healthcare providers on supportive health services important to cancer survivors, via the Truth Talking Tour. Community Responsive Project 2 will explore the use of AI social robots in a Chicago community with low access to care to enhance digital literacy and cancer health literacy to inform the Signature Research Project. Additional Community Responsive Projects will be identified in subsequent years. Projects are supported by an Administrative Core that will oversee operational and scientific activities as well as community and internal and external advisory boards, and build capacity and engagement among scholars, including early career investigators in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, and community partners to implement ACCERT PN interventions that incorporate the lived experiences of those who face worsening cancer health outcomes. A Research Methods, Measures & Data Management Core will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of projects by developing measures and methods, and assessing community-level determinants of health, community engagement, and cancer control engagement processes and outcomes. This Center brings strong scientific rigor with significant potential to enact transformative solutions to advance cancer control engaged research, as demonstrated by our focus on scaling and transforming PN toward systems level care improvement to adequately close cancer care delivery gaps; a multidisciplinary community-academic research team with exceptional track records in cancer control, PN, community engagement, implementation science, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, systems engineering, community mobilization, and patient advocacy; and meaningful engagement with Chicago communities and multisectoral community partners with the guiding North Star of “nothing about us without us”.





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